In this article, the authors highlight the potential for rethinking approaches to community and social change interventions that draw on participatory action research at the organizational and community level. They distinguish problem-centric from opportunity-centric approaches to social change. Theory on social norms suggests that problem-centric…

The educational component of community development and the role of professionals who assist community groups are discussed. Community development as an educational process helps citizens understand the many facets of their community and learn how to obtain support to maintain or improve it. (Author)

In New York State, Cooperative Extension's principal goal in community resource development is, through education, to increase the effectiveness in making and implementing public decisions concerning improvements in the quality and level of living of all people. Education and adaptive research are the two basic roles Extension will use to achieve…

Popular theatre that speaks to the common man in his own language and deals with directly relevant problems can be an effective adult education tool in the process Paulo Freire calls conscientization--a process aiming to radically transform social reality and improve people's lives. It can also serve as a medium for participatory research. Popular…

The three dimensions of the quality of the environment for human resource development are discussed as issues of opportunity versus deprivation, issues of growth inducing versus growth destroying interventions, and issues of utilization versus non-utilization of human resources. Both pathology and potential are illustrated by descriptions of our…

Intended for agency field personnel who assist in local community development (CD) efforts, this publication is the second of three making up an intensive training manual for community development. Using an inservice training approach, this part of the manual contains four instructional units: rationale for CD training, what CD is (CD as process,…

This document, which is based on information gathered during a 1998 study of how study circle programs contribute to community problem solving, presents best practices for producing community-wide study circles. The best practices are illustrated through stories that are grouped into five sections on the following themes: (1) creating a…